What A Brother Will Do
by Jellico
Summary: It's far from smooth sailing for the Cullens when Bella attracts the attention of a certain teenaged vampire who invites her home. Edward's on edge, Rose keeps thinking nasty thoughts, Emmett's amused by everyone and everything, and Carlisle and Esme must somehow keep the peace. Oh, and let's not forget Jasper and Alice who have a special spanking request for Daddy…


Remember that scene in the first movie wherein Edward introduced Bella to the entire Cullen family at their home and Jasper was even more tense than Rosalie? Why were Jasper's hands clasped so tightly behind his back in that kitchen? Was it only because he was struggling to control his thirst, or was it maybe something more? If you ever wondered, this story is for you!

 **0000000**

 **Late Saturday morning …**

For the sixtieth time in as many minutes, Edward Cullen tossed his book aside. On his lap, at his feet, covering nearly every spare foot in his room were the others he had already discarded – novels, textbooks, travelogues, even a thesaurus – but not one word, not a single written passage was distracting him from the memory of Isabella Marie Swan, _his_ Bella, the mate he had been seeking for well over a century.

 _What was she doing at this very moment?_

 _Were her thoughts centered exclusively on him?_

 _Did she pine for him as constantly as he did for her?_

 _Was there ever a more arresting, captivating, truly perfect creature? How could the existence of God ever again be denied when Heaven Personified lived in Forks?_

Whosoever had doubts was certainly not named Edward Cullen.

Forever seventeen with the passionate, impetuous nature of all male vampires turned while still in their youth, Edward suddenly longed for his piano – which meant he was seated on the padded bench before it barely half a breath later with his pale, nimble fingers gliding across the keyboard. He needed to finish the composition he had begun in E minor last night after their first official day as a couple, a rapturous piece he was determined would reveal without words the depth of his feelings. Bella would love it once she heard it. She had to. If she didn't, well, Edward knew exactly what he would do. He'd cross onto Quileute land and offer himself up to the wolves on purpose, and then if anything was left of him afterwards, he would reassemble his carcass, limp his way home and start over.

 _Then again … maybe he could start over now?_

 _E minor is a natural key for an unfretted stringed instrument, isn't it?_

 _Damn it, Bella's Lullaby might actually sound better on guitar than on piano!_

Edward flew back upstairs to find out. With the family's oversized attic close to bursting with the forgotten excesses of three prior moves, he whisked from one corner to the other, opening cabinets and trunks and tossing dust cover after dust cover until he found the 1938 D-45 Dreadnought guitar Carlisle had given him for Christmas many decades before. Thanks to his frantic searching, grit now masked the copper highlights in his hair and his black hoodie was now speckled with gray particles, but Edward was oblivious. Completely unconcerned with his dirty appearance, he flew back downstairs and settled himself on the living room couch beside Rosalie to pick, tighten, adjust and pluck. Rosalie took one look at him and whacked the back of his head with her fashion magazine.

"Must you sit right here while you murder that thing and make a racket?" she demanded. "I'm wearing a new outfit and you're filthy disgusting. Go change!"

"I'm not murdering this guitar, Rosalie. I'm tuning it."

"I don't care what you're doing with it! Just go do it somewhere else before you brush up against my clothes!"

Edward caught Rosalie's upraised arm and pinched it. "You hit me again with that stupid magazine and I swear I'll make you eat it."

As Edward's eyes became little more than slits, so too did Rosalie's. "You think you can, little brother? Go ahead. I dare you to try it. Of course, once I'm done with you, you won't be in a fit condition to feed on anything again _or_ ogle pathetic human girls, but that's all right. In fact, that's just fine by me."

 _"Children."_

There was no misunderstanding Esme's quiet rebuke, and the fact that she was two floors up made no difference. Only that morning she'd scolded them for their constant bickering over the last several days, and after she had finished, Carlisle had taken over. He'd made it exceedingly clear that a break was in order for the rest of the weekend, else sore teenage bottoms might just be the result. Edward certainly wasn't keen to experience such a thing again. He still hadn't forgotten his last one in 2003.

He tightened his grip on Rosalie a moment longer then let go of his sister, who hissed at him then flounced from the couch. On her way next door into the TV room, however, Rosalie turned back, cocked her arm and let fly the magazine.

Dashing in from outside, a grinning Emmett caught it easily before it could reach its target.

"Cool it, babe. Loverboy here can't help being a pain, can he, Jazz?"

Jasper strode into the room, assessed the emotional climate and shook his head. "Right now? No."

Edward set his chiseled jaw and tried to ignore them all. He hugged his guitar closer, finished tuning it quickly then began to play the first three chords of his new composition, but the lullaby sounded degraded to his ears and definitely not fitting for the ears of a girl he wanted to impress. He returned the guitar to its case, whisked upstairs to the attic to put it back where he'd found it, and then flew straight back downstairs to the family room and his beloved piano.

Sprawled on the sofa exactly where Rosalie had been sitting earlier, Emmett smirked in his direction then pretended to rearrange his ruffled hair. "Okay, somebody's got ants in his pants. I know you've never had a girlfriend before but geez, Eddie, pull it together."

From the TV room down the hall, Rosalie had something very definite to say about that. "Edward, that Swan girl had better not be your girlfriend," she snapped. "I will not stand for you consorting with a human."

Edward kept right on playing. "Her name is Bella and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

 _Oh no?_ Rosalie thought cruelly _. I can go over to her house right now and drain the stinking life out of her so your idiocy ends once and for all, how's that for action?_

Edward was in the doorway facing Rosalie in seconds. "You say that to me again and I—"

"You'll what?" Rosalie glanced up with a deliberate smile before returning her attention to her fashion magazine. "Besides, I didn't _say_ anything; no one heard me so you can't prove it."

"You even _think_ that to me again and I'll rip you limb from limb, Rosalie. I swear it!"

Rosalie was immediately on her feet, but her claws didn't have time to come out. With a slight rush of air, both Esme and Carlisle entered the room and stood between their vampire offspring, effectively preventing them from maiming the other. Esme took Rosalie's arm and squeezed it briefly to convey her displeasure while Carlisle looked gravely at his firstborn.

"We do not threaten members of our own family, son. You know that."

Edward's jaw pulsed. _"Well, she just threatened to kill Bella."_

Esme looked from her stubborn son to her equally stubborn daughter. "But she would never actually do that. Your sister knows such a despicable act would hurt you, and by extension this entire family, far too much. Isn't that right, Rose?"

Rosalie's chin did not soften one bit as she glared at Edward and projected her thoughts once more. _I know no such thing, and the second our parents stop coddling you and start seeing things my way, I'm going to go over to Bella's and—_

Edward didn't wait for Rosalie to finish. He simply snarled and attacked, forcing Carlisle to move like the wind in order to disentangle marble limbs hell-bent on sibling destruction.

"Edward! That is enough!"

Within moments Emmett and Jasper were in the room as well, ready to lend their own alabaster muscles if needed, but the elder Cullens had everything well in hand. As soon as Carlisle had wrested Edward from his sister – but held onto him just in case – Esme stepped in and took a firm grip of Rosalie's right hand.

"Young lady, we need to talk. Outside. Right now."

Emmett took one look at his mother's set face and couldn't help chuckling at the predicament his mate was in. "Oooh, someone's in trou—"

"Shut up, Emmett!"

 _"Rose!"_

"All right, all right, I'm coming!"

Carlisle waited for his wife and daughter to vanish deep into the surrounding forest then looked to his remaining sons and tipped his head meaningfully toward the hallway. Emmett winked at Edward but followed Jasper without protest from the room. Edward, too, tried to leave so he could return to his piano and try to forget he even had a sister named Rose, but Carlisle held him back, gazing at him with clear disappointment. Edward knew what his father was waiting for, but he absolutely would not say it. He withstood the silent rebuke for almost a minute before he broke.

"What? I'm _not_ sorry I attacked her!"

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen—"

"I mean it, Carlisle. If Rosalie harms Bella in any way, I don't care how long she's been my sister, I'll —"

"Son, you will do nothing because it won't come to that, I assure you."

"It better not."

"It won't. Your mother and I are going to make sure of it, but regardless, that doesn't excuse the behavior we witnessed a short while ago." Edward looked away then, pouting fiercely, but Carlisle forced his chin right back. "I expect you to apologize when your sister returns, and I expect you to treat her peaceably. This is the fifth fight in as many days between you two over Isabella Swan, and your mother and I have had enough. Any more skirmishes between the two of you over Bella, and I will call you both into my study for a very serious family discussion. Is that clear?"

It was. Carlisle did not need to elaborate. Edward nodded stiffly then hurried back to his piano bench to quiet the sudden tingling in his bottom cheeks, but his playing was now a wreck and his concentration shot – damn Rosalie – a fact that even Emmett, with zero musical appreciation, picked up on.

The hulking teen vampire began to wince as Edward hit one sour note after another, and finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He tossed one of the heavy Chinese Baoding balls he'd been rotating in his palms straight at his brother. When Edward caught it without looking up then threw it back in irritation and kept on "playing", Emmett threw it again.

"Dude, give me a break; your playing sucks. Can you just stop a minute, like a really, really _long_ minute?"

From upstairs both boys heard Jasper grumble under his breath, "Please say yes."

Edward shot Emmett a look. "My playing 'sucks' because _your_ mate is threatening to destroy _mine._ "

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Bella can't be your mate, bro; she's totally human and you're totally not." As Edward opened his mouth to retort, Emmett kept going. "Besides, Rosalie's not going to touch a hair on Bella's head, and I know this because if she did that, we'd ALL be ended."

"What?"

"Think about it. You'd lose your mind and tear her apart, which would piss me off enough to tear _you_ apart, and then Carlisle would be so grief-stricken over the death of his firstborn son and daughter that he'd pretty much do the same to me. With all the negative emotions that would result – and what with missing my awesome company and all – Jasper up there might just set fire to his own damn self in order to end his misery forever, but since he probably can't imagine an afterlife without Alice, he'd totally drag her down with him whether she wanted to kill herself or not, which means in less than one hour, our family would drop from seven people to two, but not even that would last 'cause the second all us kids're dead Esme would lose her shit, which means she and Carlisle would have to go to Italy, provoke the Volturi and get themselves drawn, quartered and burnt. So basically, one day after Rosalie kills Bella, we're all friggin' dead and I can't see my wife being responsible for that. Can you?"

Edward couldn't help it. He took in Emmett's saucy grin and smirked right back. "That's one twisted and depressing scenario, Em."

"But it's true, isn't it?"

Before Edward could reply, Carlisle materialized by his sons. "No, it is not, because your mother and I are going to ensure things don't go nearly that far."

Emmett winked up at his father. "If you say so, Pops."

"I do." Carlisle clapped his burly son on the shoulder then looked over at the boy's brother. "Edward, your playing right now is atrocious. Please. Go outside with Emmett and work off your excess energy some other way."

Once again Edward didn't get a chance to reply. At the piano bench one moment and then yanked thirty miles into the forest the next, he was eating dirt with Emmett's full weight grinding him down before he could blink. He listened to Emmett cackling above him and promptly gave him a taste of his own medicine while _he_ got to laugh in triumph, leaping high into a tree seconds later before Emmett could try and sit on him again. The fun was on then as the brothers chased each other among the treetops when they weren't wrestling in the clearing itself, felling more than one black cottonwood in their over exuberance.

In his bedroom at home and listening to the racket his brothers were making only a short vampire distance away, Jasper tossed his history textbook aside then arched his eyebrows at his mate, a sly smile starting to build. Alice had been flitting about their room for hours, trying to decide the perfect couple outfits for them to wear at school the following week, but the occasional opinions she'd asked of him didn't really matter and they both knew that. He waited for her to sense his eagerness to go join the fun by tipping her pretty pixie head toward the forest, and when she did exactly that a few seconds later, he broke into a full-on grin, flew to her side and pecked her on the lips.

"Thanks, darlin'."

In the forest with his brothers a mere breath later, Jasper promptly found himself tossed by Edward straight into Emmett's arms across the field. He disentangled himself with a speed and grace perfected over a hundred and fifty years ago in Maria's newborn army, landing nimbly on Emmett's head even as Edward vanished to the southeast.

"Hey, I just got here!" Jasper called. "Where're you going?"

"I just thought of something, but I'll be back!" Edward called over his shoulder. "Keep Emmett busy for me, will you?

"Chicken!" Emmett bellowed. He flipped a grinning Jasper off him then charged at him full throttle even as he said, "Get your ass back here fast, Edward, so I can pound you and Jasper both!"

"Give me a couple of minutes, ya big lug! I just have to go to Bella's for a sec!"

Emmett shook his head at the state of his lovesick sibling. He grappled with Jasper, flung him toward the heavens then grinned as the former warrior landed somewhat clumsily beside a tree trunk. "I guess it's just you and me for now, soldier boy. You know I'm gonna kick your butt, right?"

Jasper recovered and grinned right back. "You can try, I reckon."

The brothers went at it good-naturedly again but stopped trying to flatten the other when a panic-stricken Alice dashed into the clearing.

"Where's Edward? Is he gone already? _Where's Edward?!"_

Jasper was by Alice's side in an instant, his good humor gone, his expression completely sober. "He went to see his human," he said then quickly dispatched Emmett to a muddy puddle a hundred yards away. "Quit it, big brother. You know you're never gonna win."

"Says you. Again!"

Jasper paid him no mind. He looked at Alice intently. "What's the matter?"

"It's Bella," Alice whispered. She chewed her lower lip worriedly. "Edward's going to—"

"He's gonna what?" Beside them in an instant, Emmett towered over them both, no longer minding the damp stain in the seat of his jeans. "Does he need us? Is he hurt? What're we waiting for? Let's go!"

"No, Emmett," Alice grabbed his forearm quickly before he could take off. "He's okay. He's just …inviting Bella to come over tomorrow to meet the family."

Emmett brows shot straight up. "A human at home? That's a first, but … cool. So, what'd you panic for?"

Alice shook her heard desperately. "No, not cool, Em. Bella's visit is not going to end well!"

"Why? What's gonna happen?"

Alice glanced at her lover guiltily then averted her gaze to the forest floor. "With … With Bella's scent permeating the house and … no other humans around to witness anything …"

Jasper tilted her small chin up, guiding their eyes to meet. "Alice, what did you see me do to her?"

"It doesn't matter, Jazz." Alice forced a smile then stood on tiptoe to peck him lovingly on the lips. "We'll go hunting well before they come over and we'll stay away until they've gone. It'll be fine."

That was good enough for Emmett who lifted Alice out of the way so he could access her mate. "You'd know, Short Stuff. Come on, soldier boy. I didn't finish my workout."

When Jasper didn't move, his gaze drifting thoughtfully into the distance, Alice flitted once more to his side to comfort him. "Please stop worrying. Everything will be all right, you'll see."

Jasper was silent a moment longer, his jaw pulsing. Finally, he shifted his golden eyes to Alice. "No, it won't be all right. If we spend half the day skulking around in the woods tomorrow, we won't be at home with everyone else when Bella arrives, and Edward's going to be disappointed."

"But—"

"No, Alice, we can't hide. If Edward's bringing her home to meet the whole family all proper-like, then he's counting on introducing her to each and every one of us, which means we _have_ to be there."

"Dude, he'll understand if you—"

"No, Emmett." Jasper's determined gaze shifted to his skeptical older brother's. "You know Edward. You know how traditional he is, and he's been waiting for over a century to fall in love so he could bring that one special girl home. I can't ruin that for him by ducking out and taking Alice with me. Bella's bound to notice right away and think we're avoiding her. And the second she asks Edward about it, he'll feel bad and think inviting her over was a mistake, and that he's not supposed to find love, and then—"

"You're exaggerating, bro." Emmett scoffed. "He won't feel like that, not once you explain Alice's vision."

"He _will_ feel like that," Jasper insisted. He thought of the supremely intense emotions that surrounded Edward whenever Bella was near or his thoughts were on her, and he knew he was right. "I guarantee it. If Edward's bringing her home, he's serious about courting her and he's going to want everything to be perfect. That means Alice and I – and everyone in the family – have to be there."

"But if we're there, you'll attack," Alice whispered, "And Edward will feel far worse in the end."

Jasper stood tall, his expression determined. "No, he won't because I can control myself. I do it every day at school, and now that you've forewarned me, well, I just have to try a little harder than usual."

"It won't help." Alice laced her fingers through Jasper's, willing him to understand and agree to keep his distance. "You'll smell Bella across the room and drain her before any of us can stop you, and not even Edward will hear your thoughts in time because you won't stop to think. Instinct will take over and you'll just act. I'm-I'm sorry."

Jasper opened his mouth to argue then grew quiet as he reconsidered. All at once, he straightened his shoulders a little more, looking evenly from Alice to Emmett. "I won't act if I'm preoccupied with something else besides Bella's scent."

"Like what, bro?"

"Like a distraction that's impossible to ignore. Carlisle can help preoccupy me like he used to in the beginning when he was training me to resist human blood."

Emmett's eyebrows shot right up again. He remembered all too well the method their father and coven leader had used to train Jasper since it was also the supremely painful method Emmett himself had suffered through when he, too, had been an impetuous newborn. Heck, that "method" was _still_ in practice. Whenever the Cullen kids stepped too far out of line or recklessly put the family in danger, not one of their vampire hides was above getting burnt in Carlisle's study.

Emmett gave a pointed look at his brother, reminding him silently of the agony he was in for, but Jasper refused to second-guess himself anymore. He focused on Alice, waiting for her current vision to fade. She looked at him sadly the second it was over.

"Oh, Jazz."

Jasper studied her intently. "Will it work? If I ask Carlisle to give me a really hard lick—?"

"Yes," Alice sighed. "It'll work."

"Then that's what I'll do." Jasper forced himself to smile at Alice and Emmett. "I'll ask him in the morning, and in the meantime, can't none of us think on this or tell Rosalie, all right? I don't want Edward knowing and feeling guilty about it until way after it's over and done."

 **0000000**

From early the next morning, the secluded Cullen house was agleam in more lights than usual and positively bustling with activity. Earlier, Rosalie had flat out stomped her foot and declared that she would not, not, _not_ participate in _any_ charade that encouraged a fragile human to become close to their family, but a second – far more strict – discussion with both her parents in the study upstairs had changed her mind. Hours later Rosalie was still petulant, but she was also helping to ready their home for their guest so that's what mattered. After all, with so much to do, all hands were needed. Per Esme, the house had to be cleaned top to bottom, all cars had to be washed, the yard had to be raked, recipes had to be researched and shopping for human food had to be done. An embarrassed Edward kept insisting that so much preparation was unnecessary, that Bella was not the type to care or even notice if a layer of dust has accumulated on top of the television (or anywhere else for that matter), but Esme wouldn't hear of it. Finally, Edward just gave up and did his part.

By 11:45, all that remained was to cook the meal that their guest of honor would ingest and to fetch the guest herself. As Edward dashed upstairs to change then could be heard grumbling and cursing to himself as he sought the best casual outfit to impress the sheriff's daughter, Alice finished changing in her own room then stepped over to stand before her stiff-necked mate to help him button his shirt.

"You know, Jasper…"

"What, darlin'?"

"He won't like it, you know," Alice murmured, conscious of Edward down the hallway and praying he was too wrapped up in thoughts of Bella to eavesdrop. "Daddy won't like what you're going to ask him to do at all. He hasn't turned any of us over his knees since we all went a little crazy at that millennium party in Baton Rouge five years ago, and before that, it was in 1983 when you and Edward and Emmett thought it would be fun to terrorize those kids at that carnival in Mount Washington."

"We weren't really gonna feed on 'em," Jasper grumbled with a blush so faint only a vampire's eyes could spot it. "And it was Halloween, for cryin' out loud. Everybody's _supposed_ to scare everybody else. Those fool kids weren't supposed to believe we were really after 'em."

"I know that, but you boys broke a major family rule when you sent them screaming and running for their lives, and Carlisle only resorts to spanking us now after we've broken a major family rule." Alice reached up and pecked Jasper's cool cheeks. "You, my handsome husband, have not broken a single rule in 1,827 days."

Jasper kissed her back then quirked his lips. "I think murdering our brother's girlfriend counts, don't you?"

"But you haven't done that yet."

"And I won't with our daddy's help. I'll be too sore to attack anyone, darlin'; he'll make sure of it."

" _If_ you can get him to agree."

"He'll agree all right," Jasper said firmly. "You already saw him tan my hide, didn't you? Nothing's changed, has it?"

Alice shook her head. As they both heard Edward zip downstairs and out the front door on his way to Bella's house, she wrung her hands delicately, her face drawn. From the anxious waves coming off her, she was clearly still hoping that someone in their family would make an unforeseen decision that would derail Jasper's plan, and the fact that she hadn't seen any such thing yet, with so little time to go, worried her. Jasper was unhappy that she was too, but he knew he couldn't let her emotional state sway him this time. She didn't need to fret so over Carlisle hurting him; after all, the pain would be relatively fleeting and the alternative was far, far worse. Loving Alice for her concern, Jasper hugged his wife to him fiercely then abruptly let her go and started for the stairs to find their father.

On the ground floor, Carlisle had a smile on his face and a pep in his step as he made his way into the kitchen he'd never had occasion to use before. He was slightly started when Jasper suddenly materialized in front of him, blocking his path, but he didn't lose his grin; his mood was too good. He clapped his middle boy on the shoulder warmly, noting his grave expression.

"What can I do for you, son?"

"Can I talk to you, sir? Alone? In the study?"

Carlisle's carefree thoughts faded. To a human, Jasper would look frightful with his gaze so intense, but to his father who knew him well, he only looked frightened. The boy often took a soldier's stance when upright – a habit not yet broken from his days in the military – but when combined with his request to be seen in the study of all places where none of the children liked to go voluntarily, well, it could only signify one thing: a need for private discipline. Such a need was not completely unheard of with Jasper, even if it was rare nowadays, so Carlisle nodded once in answer to his son's request then watched the boy about-face without another word and vanish upstairs. Carlisle sighed to himself then followed.

In the study, Jasper was once again at attention positioned before the desk, but Carlisle refused to allow him to stay that way. He took his arm and guided him toward the closest of the leather sofas, instructing the boy to take a seat. Jasper did, albeit reluctantly, and Carlisle joined him.

"What troubles you, son?"

Jasper's bottom twitched. He stiffened his posture as far as he was able to against the soft leather and reminded himself that the forthcoming punishment wasn't being forced on him. He wanted it for the greater good. He stiffened a little more, met Carlisle's concerned gaze head on and said, "I need a favor, Daddy."

Carlisle knew right then that his assumptions downstairs about what Jasper needed were correct. His middle son did not ever call him 'Daddy' unless a spanking was imminent. Still, he asked the question.

"What do you need?"

"I … I need you to tan my hide hard. The hardest you've ever tanned any of us."

"You want me to punish you physically."

"Yes, sir."

"Why? I'm not aware of any of our family's rules being broke—"

"That's because they haven't been yet," Jasper admitted. "But I still need this done."

"Tell me why," Carlisle repeated. "I hate to punish you kids – especially this way – and I will not do it without a solid reason, son. You know that."

Jasper did and he was ready with the answer. "It's to save Bella's life."

"I'm going to need more than that, son."

"If you don't do it, Daddy, I'll end up killing her the minute she steps inside our house. Alice saw it. I-I need a distraction like the ones you used to give me a long time ago when I was learning to stifle my cravings for human blood. And I need it fast, before she gets here."

Carlisle was silent a moment then turned his head only the slightest bit toward the closed door of his private study. "Alice, come in here, please."

Alice was at her father's side in an instant. A half-second later, she was seated on the sofa as well and making herself comfortable, the fingers on her left hand laced with those on Jasper's right. "You wanted to see me, Daddy?"

Carlisle nodded once, observing his children. "Jasper tells me you had a vision of him attacking Bella and he wants my help to prevent it. Before I decide one way or the other, I need to hear the details of this attack." Carlisle waited for Alice to begin, but she was clearly loath to recite such gruesome details where her mate could overhear. Carlisle could have kicked himself for his insensitivity. He went to his desk instead, set pen and paper on the blotter and gestured for Alice to approach. "Here. Write them down for me, please."

Alice would have preferred not to do that either, but she knew from her vision that she would have to. Jasper squeezed her hand reassuringly, so she left his side, dispatched with the task quickly then returned to him. By the desk, Carlisle lifted the notepad and read her three-page narrative in three seconds flat, then seemed at a loss for words.

"Well."

Alice took that as her cue. "I think I'll excuse myself now. You two will need your privacy in a moment."

Carlisle waited until Alice had gone then slowly raised his eyes to meet Jasper's. "Son … I haven't had to give you a spanking to help distract you from your appetite in many, many years. Your self-control is leagues ahead of where it was—"

"But it won't be in twenty minutes," Jasper reminded him, pointing to the notepad Carlisle was still holding, "and Edward will never forgive me if I do as Alice predicts. Frankly, I don't think I'll ever forgive myself either."

"Are you certain this is the only way to prevent a disaster?"

"Dad—"

"Listen to me now. You fed last night with Alice, but you could easily go on another hunt and return well after midnight. Bella would be long gone by then, and I wouldn't have to hurt you by—"

"You won't be hurting me, Daddy, not really."

"Son, we both know a spanking from me will hurt. It must in order to be effective and deter you from following your most primal instincts. And what's more, you'll be sore for longer than just Bella's visit. We heal quickly, but if I give you what you're truly asking for, you won't sit comfortably until dawn. Is that honestly what you want?"

"No, but the pain will slow my movements and stop me from doing something rash and irreversible like killing Bella and drinking her blood."

"Jasper—"

The son in question stood up with determination now, acutely away that precious time was passing. "Carlisle, I will not hide in the woods while she visits. Edward's counting on all of us to be home so he can introduce her formally, and I'm not going to disappoint him." As Carlisle continued to pause, considering every alternative, Jasper went up to him, his voice low and pleading. "Please, Daddy. Help me."

Carlisle couldn't refuse him now. He nodded reluctantly, propped one leg on a clear corner of his desk then gestured for his son to lower his pants then lay across his lap.

There was no hesitation on Jasper's part as he did what was expected. He set his jaw, lowered his blue jeans and white boxer briefs simultaneously then draped himself across his father's thigh, fortifying himself for the ordeal to come by envisioning Alice.

Both father and son could hear Esme, Alice and Emmett doing their best to calm a very upset Rosalie who was stridently declaring that Jasper, that everyone, was doing much too much to appease Edward over his 'human', but neither agreed, so neither allowed themselves to be distracted by the heated family discussion going on downstairs. Instead, Jasper gripped both his father and the desk to brace himself, and Carlisle, for his part, took a firm hold of his son. Carlisle had no doubts that Jasper could and would stay in place without help, but it didn't matter to him. He hugged the boy to him regardless, if only to provide a measure of comfort for both himself and his son, and then he sighed and raised his right hand.

To the naked eye of a human, what happened next would have been impossible to describe in any significant detail. Carlisle's hand was an absolute blur, the individual slaps landing far too quickly to be counted with any degree of accuracy. There were thousands of spanks inside of minutes though, and poor Jasper felt each and every one. He ordered himself repeatedly to accept it all, make no sound and just focus on Alice, but as the surface temperature on his diamond-hard skin neared 500 degrees Celsius then climbed still higher to 650, he couldn't hold back any longer. The antique desk on which Carlisle sat was made of ironwood and had been imported fifty years prior from Tasmania, Australia, but Jasper couldn't bring himself to care. He pounded his fist straight through it and let loose with a bellow that shattered the Tiffany lampshade in the far corner, silencing even Rosalie downstairs.

Carlisle stopped spanking then, his goal plainly achieved. He looked at the remains of his office furniture, but said nothing as he released his son and massaged the tingling palm of his right hand for a moment, grateful that vampires toughen as they 'age'. At 368 years old, he would feel nothing of this ache five minutes hence and that was certainly more than he could say for Jasper, who was going to be suffering for quite a while.

The son in question was clearly in agony as he leapt up from his father's lap and clutched his flaming buttocks, which looked as pale as ever but steamed and ached invisibly in ways they never had before from a disciplinary spanking. This hellfire was exactly what Jasper had asked for though, and with Edward no doubt on his way back to the house with Bella at this point, Jasper knew he needed to get control of himself. Under the right circumstances, perhaps once, maybe even twice in his own eternity, a vampire might cry real tears, but today would not be that day from him; he absolutely would not waste a single tear over a licking he himself had deliberately requested. He stood as tall as he could and faced his father and coven leader like the man he was supposed to be.

"Th-Thank you for doing that, Daddy."

Carlisle lay a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Was it enough, son? Are you sufficiently distracted now that blood holds little appeal?"

Jasper nodded without hesitation, fighting the trembling in his chin as he carefully pulled up his pants then held his backside through his jeans.

Carlisle took note and pulled him into a hug. "You're a great brother," he said quietly. "And Edward will surely think so too upon his return."

"I'd … rather he didn't know just yet," Jasper said, accepting the hug for only a moment before easing away. "When he gets here his focus should only be on Bella, not me."

"Son—"

"Edward obsesses too much over certain things, and if he knows I did this for him, it'll ruin his day. You know it's true."

Carlisle certainly did. He nodded with a sigh while he checked his watch. "You're right, of course, and since he should be here with Bella any minute now, I guess I'd better start shifting my thoughts elsewhere and get everyone else to do the same."

As if right on cue, Alice breezed into the room with a skip, her shining face wreathed in a mysterious smile as she made a beeline for her mate. "You don't have to worry about Jasper and me, Daddy. I know exactly what we're going to do to take our minds off this."

"And what's that?"

"Can't tell you. By the way, Mom needs you in the kitchen to help chop some kind of stinky ham meat for Bella's lunch. Go-go-go!"

A bemused Carlisle went. The second he was gone, a giddy Alice bounced on her feet and tugged on Jasper's hands.

"Come outside with me."

Jasper let himself be pulled along, doing his manly best not to hiss with every step he took. He had no idea at first where Alice was planning to lead him, but as they approached the garden shed and the rugged path beyond that led to their favorite stream, he winced and pulled her to a stop. "Darlin', I don't think I have it in me right now to go much further. Can we just stick around here, please?"

"We are sticking around here, silly." Alice teased him with a kiss, crowding him backwards until she had him pressed gently against the far wall of the shed out of sight of the house windows. "Do you really think I would drag you farther than this when you're still so sore?"

Jasper shook his head with a frown. "No, but—"

Alice shushed him with a delicate finger to his lips. "We still have four minutes before Edward drives up with Bella, and that's more than enough time for me to distract you with something a lot more pleasant than a spanking."

Before Jasper could ask a second question, Alice set to work unzipping his jeans and freeing him, knowing he would catch on pretty quickly as to her plans. He did. Underpants were dropped, two became one and hips began to rock at a frenetic pace only vampires could sustain. By the time Edward's Volvo pulled up exactly four minutes later and two car doors slammed, clothes had been re-donned and fully rearranged, and Alice was facing her mate with a highly-satisfied smile, her hands resting on his strong chest. Jasper was tensing up again and trying not to show it thanks to the delicious scent he was picking up from their brother's guest, but Alice had no worries. She pulled his face down to meet hers, looking deeply into his eyes.

"You can do this, Jasper. Nothing bad is going to happen."

"Are you sure?"

" _Yes_." Alice pecked him on the lips then tipped her head toward the curving alder tree right outside the kitchen that would be perfect for dropping down and making an entrance. "Now let's go welcome Bella."


End file.
